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November 26, 2021 12:26 pm

Israel Delays Housing Project in Eastern Jerusalem Amid US Pressure

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avatar by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff

Illustrative: A general view picture shows part of Givat Hamatos, an area near eastern Jerusalem, November 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun.

i24 News – Israel announced on Thursday that it delayed a controversial plan to advance a housing project in east Jerusalem following pushback by the United States.

According to a senior Israeli official, the plan was removed from the agenda of a December 6 meeting of Jerusalem’s District Planning and Building Committee, The Times of Israel (ToI) reported.

The project, which received authorization from the Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday, would see the construction of 9,000 housing units — designated for ultra-Orthodox Jews — in the Atarot community on an abandoned airport.

As part of the post-1967 expanded Jerusalem, the area is located beyond the Green Line.

The international community as well as the Palestinian Authority condemned the Atarot proposal, claiming that it would cement Israeli presence in an area meant to be the future capital of the Palestinian state.

Following the municipality’s approval, US State Department officials expressed their disapproval of the plan even after Israeli officials explained that the advancement was only preliminary, and that final approval could take months if not years, ToI reported.

The possible revival of the Atarot project comes amid Israeli advancements of other controversial construction projects in and around Jerusalem.

Last month, the expropriation of public land for the controversial Givat HaMatos neighborhood was approved by a Jerusalem planning committee.

An Israeli panel also advanced plans in April of this year to construct 540 residential units in the contentious east Jerusalem area of Har Homa.

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